ANA’s Domestic Premium Class: How To Get A Better Deal

If you’re booking a domestic flight within Japan and want to get as good of a deal as possible on a premium cabin ticket, here’s the trick to doing so…

Japanese airlines have unique domestic products

Both All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) operate a dedicated fleet of domestic aircraft, which are in a high density configuration. This makes sense, since the planes all fly very short distances, and a lot of people need to be moved.

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For example, Japan Airlines has a dedicated fleet of Airbus A350-900s, which exclusively operate within the country, and they’re pretty swanky. Meanwhile All Nippon Airways’ most modern domestic jet is the Boeing 787-10.

It’s interesting to note the different approaches the airlines take to configuring these jets:

• Japan Airlines’ domestic A350-900s feature 12 first class seats, 94 “Class J” seats (which, despite the name, isn’t business class, but is more like premium economy), and 263 economy seats
• All Nippon Airways’ domestic 787-10s feature 28 premium class seats and 401 economy seats

For all practical purposes, I’d consider Japan Airlines’ A350 first class to be along the same lines of All Nippon Airways’ 787 premium class, despite the different branding.

How to lower the price of domestic ANA flights

Generally speaking, when airlines compete in a market and there’s not a single dominant carrier, pricing is similar. Of course there are exceptions, like if a particular fare class isn’t available, a flight is nearly full, etc. But if booking far out, it’s generally true.

If you’re outside of Japan and compare the cost of Japan Airlines first class to All Nippon Airways premium class (like with Google Flights), you might be shocked by the difference in pricing, as All Nippon Airways consistently charges 50%+ more.

For example, from Tokyo to Sapporo, Japan Airlines has first class fares starting at $284 one-way…

…while All Nippon Airways has premium class fares starting at $434 one-way.

From Tokyo to Fukuoka, Japan Airlines has first class fares starting at $271 one-way…

…while All Nippon Airways has premium class fares starting at $462 one-way.

So, what’s going on here? Is the pricing really that different? No, there’s actually something else going on here, as pointed out by some OMAAT readers, and I figure it’s worth covering. Long story short, All Nippon Airways uses point of sale restrictions on domestic flights, while Japan Airlines doesn’t.

For example, if you go to the US version of All Nippon Airways’ website, you’ll see a fare of $431 one-way from Tokyo to Sapporo…

Meanwhile if you instead visit the Japanese version of the website, you’ll see the fare is 31,910 JPY, or around $205, less than half the cost.

Just to be clear, you’re not violating any rules by using the Japanese version of the website, as it’s not like there are residency requirements, or anything. Instead, the airline just sells its most flexible and expensive domestic fares through its foreign websites.

So yeah, if booking All Nippon Airways premium class, make sure you use the Japanese version of All Nippon Airways’ website, and you’ll get a much better deal.

Bottom line

It’s interesting to note that All Nippon Airways uses point of sale restrictions for its lowest fares on domestic flights, including in premium class. So if you want to get the best deals on domestic flights within Japan on All Nippon Airways, don’t use Google Flights, as you won’t find the best fares there. Instead, use All Nippon Airways’ website and set your location to Japan, and you’ll see much more attractive prices.